The Perils of Meditation

[Maddie]

2 hours ago, Apech said:

 

That's exactly what I would predict from my 'decent theory'

 

 

I think I might have figured out what has been going on in my case, via the TCM route. I think due to the large amount of trauma from my earlier years meditation has been digging this up. I got into meditation to help me deal with it, but it has been rough because there is a lot there to deal with.

  The TCM explanation would be "phlegm and heat stuck in the deep level" (a TCM practitioner from China would probably say I'm butchering the language, but I've found I have to make this more understandable to the western mind based on experience with patients). 

  Anyway the phlegm and heat get stuck in the deep level where they can stay theoretically for someone's entire life (thus the deep level). I think this is why when I would get into "deep" meditation I would come into contact with this stuff.  Buddhism wouldn't really quantify it but say "its just thought observe and let go". TCM on the other hand would say "you have stuck phlegm heat in there". 

  Since meditation made me feel like I was on a merry go round and not really getting anywhere I decided to try a TCM approach. I recently began taking several herbal formulas based on purging phlegm and heat at the deep level. The interesting thing is, is that with out any meditation at all I am having some of the same effects as meditation in one sense, but its also different in another. 

  When I would meditate long and deep I would later have weird thought, feel hot, and have to urinate frequently. Now that I have stopped meditating I'll take my herbs and have weird thoughts (though they don't seem as out of control as when after meditation) feel lots of heat, and have to urinate frequently. This is an indication that the purging of phlegm and heat is working, and that it is being brought up from the deep level where it was stuck. It is still a little rough and uncomfortable but the progress seems more linear now as opposed to going in circles with meditation. I'm curious to see how things continue to progress. 

[Bhathen]

On 1/26/2021 at 8:27 AM, dmattwads said:

 

I think I might have figured out what has been going on in my case, via the TCM route. I think due to the large amount of trauma from my earlier years meditation has been digging this up. I got into meditation to help me deal with it, but it has been rough because there is a lot there to deal with.

  The TCM explanation would be "phlegm and heat stuck in the deep level" (a TCM practitioner from China would probably say I'm butchering the language, but I've found I have to make this more understandable to the western mind based on experience with patients). 

  Anyway the phlegm and heat get stuck in the deep level where they can stay theoretically for someone's entire life (thus the deep level). I think this is why when I would get into "deep" meditation I would come into contact with this stuff.  Buddhism wouldn't really quantify it but say "its just thought observe and let go". TCM on the other hand would say "you have stuck phlegm heat in there". 

  Since meditation made me feel like I was on a merry go round and not really getting anywhere I decided to try a TCM approach. I recently began taking several herbal formulas based on purging phlegm and heat at the deep level. The interesting thing is, is that with out any meditation at all I am having some of the same effects as meditation in one sense, but its also different in another. 

  When I would meditate long and deep I would later have weird thought, feel hot, and have to urinate frequently. Now that I have stopped meditating I'll take my herbs and have weird thoughts (though they don't seem as out of control as when after meditation) feel lots of heat, and have to urinate frequently. This is an indication that the purging of phlegm and heat is working, and that it is being brought up from the deep level where it was stuck. It is still a little rough and uncomfortable but the progress seems more linear now as opposed to going in circles with meditation. I'm curious to see how things continue to progress. 

 

Have you tried fasting?

 

Do you think qi deviation might lead to these symptoms? Or maybe a scattered mind leading to a lot of though-streams (bringing out a continuous barrage of traumatic emotions to the fore) and your body trying to get back to normal through these symptoms?

...

[OKO696]

Any advice for a complete beginner?

Where to start?

[Wilhelm]

20 minutes ago, OKO696 said:

Any advice for a complete beginner?

Where to start?

Hey!  You're just starting to meditate?

[Maddie]

24 minutes ago, OKO696 said:

Any advice for a complete beginner?

Where to start?

 

What is your goal?

[OKO696]

21 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

What is your goal?

 

I do some Tai Chi and I want to get a deeper level of relaxation.

Heard someone mention something about Neigong meditation being a good match for Tai Chi (CMC - 37 form)

[Sketch]

13 minutes ago, OKO696 said:

 

I do some Tai Chi and I want to get a deeper level of relaxation.

Heard someone mention something about Neigong meditation being a good match for Tai Chi (CMC - 37 form)

 

I would just start putting time aside every day to sit still.

 

Get used to sitting, still, first, with no pressure to do anything else.

 

Get past the fidgets. Start building a habit, 

 

Then refine it into a practice.

 

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Sketch

[Maddie]

33 minutes ago, OKO696 said:

 

I do some Tai Chi and I want to get a deeper level of relaxation.

Heard someone mention something about Neigong meditation being a good match for Tai Chi (CMC - 37 form)

 

If your goal is relaxation then there are definitely better techniques for that than meditation, such as Tai Chi.

Edited January 29, 2021 by dmattwads

[OKO696]

6 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

If your goal is relaxation then there are definitely better techniques for that than meditation, such as Tai Chi.

I'll keep going with the Tai Chi (no something I ever want to stop) 

I'll put it a different way - What could I achieve with meditation.

[Maddie]

32 minutes ago, OKO696 said:

I'll keep going with the Tai Chi (no something I ever want to stop) 

I'll put it a different way - What could I achieve with meditation.

 

Well that's a rather broad question since meditation is broad topic. But being very general, typically the purpose of meditation is to quiet the mind and order to see more accurately what is in it.

[Sketch]

1 hour ago, OKO696 said:

I'll keep going with the Tai Chi (no something I ever want to stop) 

I'll put it a different way - What could I achieve with meditation.

 

 

Nothing!

[doc benway]

33 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

Well that's a rather broad question since meditation is broad topic. But being very general, typically the purpose of meditation is to quiet the mind and order to see more accurately what is in it.

 

Also, what it is made of.

And in turn, what “I” am made of.

[doc benway]

2 hours ago, OKO696 said:

Any advice for a complete beginner?

Where to start?

A great place to begin is standing meditation - zhan zhuang.

It is a great support for taijiquan practice.

[Apech]

1 hour ago, OKO696 said:

I'll keep going with the Tai Chi (no something I ever want to stop) 

I'll put it a different way - What could I achieve with meditation.

 

A life of suffering